The Gift of Adoption!

Rose of Sharon

This week is Adoption Awareness Week which is important for several reasons. Adoption is one of the most important responses to the abortion issue in our nation. Adoption is a far more positive alternative for women and children than abortion. There are so many beautiful and yet unwanted babies orphaned around the world and in Australia. Many married couples can seek adoption and experience the blessings of being a parent to a child seeking the security and safety of a strong family home.

I am so blessed to have an adopted sister myself. My sister is currently 23 years old and originally from Seoul in South Korea. I can still remember sitting in the VIP lounge at Perth Airport watching my mother carry Carmen through the doors…or should I say Carmen was so big that she looked like she was carrying mum. Carmen was only 4 months old at the time but immediately she was a much loved part of our family as if she had been in our family from the very beginning.

I still remember sitting in the back seat of the car late at night holding onto my sisters 4 month old hand in awe of the new life in our lives. I was 8 years old at the time and I have very fond memories of the blessing Carmen has been to our family. I can still remember one birthday Carmen had as a young child, looking at the Chocolate cake in front of her and feeling overwhelmed with how to tackle it, she ended up dumping her full face right into the middle of the cake, attempting to get as much of the cake in her mouth as she could…

The national rose of Korea is the ‘Rose of Sharon’. My parents received a prophetic word about Carmen and the Rose of Sharon before we were able to go through the process of adopting Carmen from Korea. Carmen is our Rose of Sharon. Like any rose there have been some thorny experiences that have proven to be painful for both Carmen and our family over the last 10 years but Carmen is still our Rose of Sharon. She is a blessing and she is radiant. As she brings a new life into the world in approximately 20 weeks time, we as a family rejoice that we get the privilege to witness the fruit of her life in a country like Australia and in a family like ours.

Adoption after all is a reflection of the heart of God.Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry ‘Abba! Father!” Each of us as God’s children and believers in Jesus Christ have been adopted into God’s family. When we were broken and estranged from the Father and needing love, restoration and healing, God rescued us through Jesus Christ and adopted us into his family. Don’t take this for granted!

Australia is a prosperous nation that has so much going for it but we need to be reminded of the value of a person’s life. Children are a gift and heritage from the Lord and we are not to treat kids as distractions to our lives but as incredible blessings. Australia needs to listen to organisations such as the Babes Project (www.thebabesproject.com)and other like minded groups who are busy trying to recreate adoption as a positive alternative to abortion. Have you considered the blessing of adoption?

3 Responses to “The Gift of Adoption!”

Clearly, I am going to love this post! But just wanted to say thanks for sharing your thoughts on adoption and your own adoption experience as Carmen became grafted into your family.
Adoption is a gift, but needs to be done with grace and in recognition that we (Australia) haven’t always done it well. Am so believing for change in our attitudes toward adoption and abortion.
Thanks Corey!

This is beautiful Corey and we are so blessed to have our daughter , ( your sister) as God’s ‘special delivery’ to our family.
I want to share with your readers that the Lord also placed the following verse into a Korean brothers’ heart & on the basis of this one verse he commenced the orphanage Carmy came from. I might add that this man built this orphange by total FAITH! There were no government grants.
Read this beautiful verse : James 1:27 “RELIGION THAT GOD OUR FATHER ACCEPTS AS PURE & FAULTLESS IS THIS: TO LOOK AFTER ORPHANS & WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS & TO KEEP ONESELF FROM BEING POLLUTED BY THE WORLD .”
SELAH upon this & blessings to you today.
MARNEY ( Mum)